Livestock farming, one of the oldest businesses in human history, is at the risk of extinction in the country as global warming gets worse. It has been a harrowing experience for many farmers in the northern part of the country as climate change has made water and vegetation very scarce, causing their animals to die in their numbers. Besides, many herders have been gruesomely killed as they migrate from one place to the other in search of water and vegetation for their herds, INNOCENT DURU reports.
Garus Galolo, a livestock farmer based in Benue State recently saw his kinsmen leave the country to seek greener pastures for their herds.
Their decision to leave the country followed the intensity of global warming on account of which the water and vegetation their animals needed were drying up, causing many of their herds to die.
Galolo’s kinsmen were full of hope as they marched out of the country with their herds, believing that life would be better elsewhere. Unfortunately, some of them never arrived at their destination as they were attacked and murdered.
He said: “No fewer than six of them have died in the course of migrating to neighbouring countries.
“I lost three of them between the borders of Nigeria and Cameroon. They wanted to cross to Cameroon when some youths attacked and killed them.
“The lucky survivors have since moved to Eritrea.
“Three others were killed between Oyo State and Benin Republic, in a place called Shabe.
“The first three were living in Okum in Benue State while the others were resident in Ogun State.
“They left Nigeria because the problem was too much for them to bear.
“They had nowhere to graze, nowhere for their cattle to get water among other challenges.
“They lost some of their cows too.
“When you are crossing to other places there is no way you can cross by leg. You have to pay N5,000 on each cow to youths who mount road blocks even when you have the cows inside a vehicle.
“In some places, government officials would seize your cows and you have to pay N50,000 on each one to secure them. If 20 of your cows are seized, it means you would pay N1 million to get them. How many cows would a herder sell to get that?”
Galolo lamented that he has lost nothing less than N350 million to the challenge of global warming. This, he said, was besides the losses recorded by his other kinsmen.
“I have become poor as a result of these. Some herders who once had more than a million cows can hardly boast of 10 now.
“The rivers around Katsina Ala up to Gue in Benue State have dried up. The water in Lake Chad area has almost dried up. Water is no more flowing there as it used to.
“If you go to Katsina border, you will be shocked at the number of herders that are taking their cows to Niger Republic just to graze them and return to Nigeria the following morning.
“If they stay here, the bandits would come, kill them and collect the cows.”
Further explaining why his kinsmen are leaving Nigeria, he said: “Grasses have also dried up in many places. Formerly, In Kura area of Kano and parts of Bauchi State, you would see cattle drinking water. But now there is no more water there. Even the Eritrea they are going to suffers the same fate.”
In Yobe and adjoining areas, the plight of herders and their animals could move one to tears. Many of the cows look pale, suggesting that they have not had had sufficient water and grass to feed on.
The water level was too low in few places where it was available. To access the water, donkeys or camels were used to get them. Unfortunately, what comes out as water is sand with little fluid hovering over it. “Our livestock drink sand in the name of water,” said the National President of Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria, (KACRAN), Yobe chapter, Hon. Khalil Mohammed Bello, said.
“We use donkeys and horses to get water from the well. Ropes are tied on the camels for them to get the water. A human being cannot do it except you use camels or donkeys to get the water. From morning till night, the animals cannot get enough water to drink. They even risk being contaminated and dying drinking such water.
“Livestock are living things; they cannot survive without water. Most of the northern states have no water and that is why most herders are moving to the south where there is much vegetation and water.
“Before now, you would see livestock at the Lake Chad Basin in their thousands and even in millions, eating any type of pasture and drinking water at any time.
“Now it has dried completely. There is nothing there except sand.
“When you come to northern Yobe, you have to go very, very deep because the water has gone down. All this is attributable to climate change.”
The KACRAN boss lamented that global warming has brought drastic changes that have led to the death of their animals.
“You would see a cow being sold for N700 or N1,000 and slaughtered when they are about to die.
“After the dry season, before fresh grasses start coming out, the animals would be dying.
“Many of them die before they are slaughtered.
“If you take a slaughtered one to the market, they would just price it N500 or N700. Sometimes you would not even be able to get the money that you spent transporting them. We lose thousands of animals.”
Corroborating Galolo’s claims of attacks on herders, Bello said: “Our people are often attacked while moving around. You may see a herder with 1,000 animals now and the next minute, he would not have any again. The cattle would have been rustled.
“Our people have been leaving the country for places like Ghana and Benin Republic.
“Initially, they were moving to Cameroon and Chad, but because of insecurity, they don’t go to those places again. That is why our people are now moving to the southern part of the country.
“There in the south you will find that there is also a problem between herders and farmers.
“You know that in the South they have limited land space. Because of the challenges of vegetation and water, they move to Benin Republic and Ghana or Central Africa.”
More lamentation over climate challenge
The Director Media and Publicity Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, (MACBAN) Kaduna State, Ibrahim Bayero Zango, and his members have also suddenly grown grey hair over the setback that global warming has had on their only source of livelihood.
He said: “We are the worst affected people when it comes to desertification or climate change problem.
“With desertification, there is no place to graze our animals, and that is why our people are moving down south.
“Those who are in Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states are fewer than those in Kogi State today because of climate change.
“They have deserted the core north states because of climate change and moved to the south where there are greener pastures.”
Going down memory lane, he said: “About 20 years ago, the climate problem was not as bad as it is now. It was a little bit better as there were drinking points all over. All the streams were having water all through the seasons.
“But now, especially in the dry season like this, you hardly find water to give your animals in the core north areas.
“These dams that were established in the early 70s and 80s have been eroded. When animals have no water to drink, they die.
“My uncle’s cows died recently because rain did not fall on time. He lost eight cows and sold five at giveaway prices to buy feeds for the rest.”
Also decrying the attitude of butchers when they (herders) are in distress, he said: “When animals are about to die and they are slaughtered, butchers would carry them and give you whatever they like. Some would not even give you anything until you go to meet them in the market.
“When you meet them, they could buy something worth N500 and give to you as compensation for the animal. They would tell you there was no profit from it and that they even assisted you by helping you to evacuate the animals.”
Explaining that they cannot afford to stay in a place because of the havoc wreaked by climate change, he said: “We keep moving to make sure that our animals have something to eat and drink. If it is getting worse here, you move elsewhere on foot with the animals. It has never been easy.
“When it is dry season, you cannot get milk from the cows anymore and you would not want to sell at that time because cows would be too cheap.
“At times, you have to spend more than five days in one place because the animals are tired and can no longer move because of hunger.”
Chairman of MACBAN in Plateau State, Muhammad Nuru Abdulahi, is no less disturbed by the development.
He said: “Climate change has affected many businesses here in the north. The dryness of the areas is of concern especially in the dry seasons.
“We used to have streams from where we were getting water all-round the seasons, but now they do dry up at the point when we really need the water.
“Before now, when people burnt bushes, fresh grasses would germinate and animals would feed on those fresh grasses, but it is no longer so. If they are burnt, they would not germinate until rain falls. This affects our business.”
When there are no fresh grasses, Abdulahi said, he resorts to buying feeds at cut-throat rates to feed the animals.
“The feeds are very expensive,” he said, adding: “I have lost a number of animals, both old ones and calves, to climate problems. When the old ones are not feeding well, the young ones they are breastfeeding will be affected.
“I have lost about 10. In money terms, on a good day, I would sell each for between N250,000 and N300,000.”
30 to 40 per cent of animals produced annually affected
The Chairman of Miyetti Allah in Bauchi State, Sadiq Ibrahim Ahmed, was full of regrets about how climate change has affected the fortunes of farmers in the region.
He said: “If you look at the climate in the north, especially the North East and Bauchi in particular, if you look back to the past 15 years compared to now, you will definitely agree that climate change has seriously affected the economic potentials of the North East, especially Bauchi State.
“Rainfall, which is a crucial factor in livestock farming, has reduced to a level you don’t expect. In the past two to three years, rainfall has started in late June and end around September.
“All the watering points have dried up. If you look at all the animals in the North now, they hardly get water to drink. And once there is no water, you don’t talk about grasses to feed the animals.
“If you had 1,000 or 500 herds in the last five years, you just have to dispose of them or you will not be able to rear them.”
He also expressed concern that the temperature around the North is rising to a very high level and it is very dangerous for the animals. “Crop production goes alongside with animal production. The byproducts of crop farming are what animals feed on.
“In recent times, crop farmers have also been affected by climate change. Most of their crops dry up before the end of September.
Before October or November, all the by-products would have dried up or the few that are available would have been eaten up by animals.
“By January/February, all the rivers would have dried up. The implications are that they keep shrinking and dying when they don’t have food and water to consume.
“This is very serious around the months of April and May before the rains come. You would find that about 30 to 40 per cent of the animals produced annually are affected and it is recurring.
“If something urgent is not done, in the next five years, you will hardly see animals to breed.”
He added: “In the next two months now, when animals sleep, it is when people come near them and kick them that they will stand up. At times they would not even be able to stand up.
“If you go around the market around April/May, there is always an abundance of meat because farmers are forced to sell off their animals.
“Some of the animals die; some are sold at giveaway prices. A cow that could be sold for N200,000 would be sold for a paltry N50,000.”
The challenge, he further said, “is compelling our people to look for alternative means of livelihood, but I don’t know which alternative. It is an indication of poverty in the nation.
“Food scarcity is the end of it because there would be no meat and food for farmers to sell. If something urgent is not done, definitely, we are likely to lose our major source of protein.”
Bleak future for livestock business
Following the intractable challenges posed by climate change, herders fear that their business risks extinction.
Galolo said: “The business is not okay for us now not to talk of the future. Maybe people would begin to rear cats in the long run.
“I can’t tell the government to do anything again. Let God do anything that pleases Him.
“The government is not ready to do anything for us. We have taken ourselves as not being citizens of Nigeria. God will bring someone who will help us.”
Bello, the KACRAN leader, is also worried about the future of the business.
“The future is very bleak. If you want to rear livestock here in Nigeria without any problem, it is in the north. Now our people have to leave the north for the south or even leave the country completely.
“That is why livestock is now too expensive. It is with extreme difficulty that herders can survive.
“Even the livestock that survive being stolen or rustled, to feed them is a problem.
“The future is bleak except northern governors and the federal government do the needful.”
Speaking in the same vein, Ibrahim Bayero said there is no future for their business if the government continues to ignore forestation and establishment of green belt that it ought to have established in the far north since the Second Republic. “They also need to establish dams in the grazing reserves. When this is done, our people will return there. Until the government does that, our people will always leave the northern part for the southern part.
“Now there are more herders in the southern part than there are in the north. All the dams in Safana Grazing Reserve in Katsina State have dried up. The same thing applies to the one at Kotangora Grazing Reserve and the ones in Gombe.”
Leader of the herders in Plateau State, Muhammad Abdulahi, feared that their business faces a daunting challenge with climate change and may collapse.
“Our people face serious security challenge travelling to other African countries. We have had some of them killed, especially those travelling to Cameroon. Even this year, some of them were travelling from Kogi to Adamawa but were attacked here in Plateau State. Two persons were killed together with their cows.”